ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College Women's Volleyball defeated the Wolves from Keuka in straight sets on Tuesday evening in the opening round of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament, winning 3-0. In a matchup which featured 20 ties and nine lead changes, the Soaring Eagles served to five straight points to conclude the third set following a service error from Keuka. With the win, Elmira moves on to the semifinal round and will take on St. John Fisher, the tournament host, on Friday at 5:00 PM.

JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 3, Keuka 0
LOCATION: Elmira, N.Y. | Speidel Gymnasium
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (8-15, 3-5 E8), Keuka (9-18, 3-5 E8)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The teams played their closest set in the first, with Elmira taking an early 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-22 win. Despite Keuka showing to be a strong first-set team throughout the season, the Purple & Gold took their first lead of the set at 7-6 and never looked back. As a team, the hit .188% in the set while Maddie Boucher '24 led the way with three kills.
 
In the second, the Soaring Eagles rolled to a 25-15 victory, using an 11-2 run to finish the set after the score sat at 14-3 in favor of EC. Kaylene Sauschuck '22 was instrumental in the set, tallying five kills while Asia Curkendall '25 brought her assist total to 20 following the second.
 
In the third and final set, Elmira found themselves trailing 14-9 before Daniel Miranda used his second and final timeout. The break turned out to be instrumental for the Soaring Eagles, who went on to take five straight out of the timeout to tie the set at 14-14. After the Wolves grabbed four of the next five to take an 18-15 lead, Elmira scored 9 of the next 11 points to take the final set 25-20 and the match in straight sets. EC was able to score the final five points with the serve in Ava Wallingford's '25 hands, which included three service aces.

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles will return to the court on Friday when they take on the conference's regular season champion, St. John Fisher, in the Semifinals of the Empire 8 Tournament. First serve is set for 5:00 PM inside Manning & Napier Gymnasium on the campus of St. John Fisher College.